Designing a Local Stakeholder-Driven Framework for a Climate Adaptation Inventory in South Korea

Local policymakers in South Korea face the challenge of translating international climate resilience discourse into tangible technological applications within climate adaptation and urban planning frameworks. However, the absence of a standardized inventory for climate adaptation technologies creates structural limitations for local governments in selecting and implementing measures tailored to site-specific climate risks. To bridge this gap, this study proposes a "Climate Adaptation Technology Inventory" framework to support evidence-based decision-making for urban climate resilience.

To ensure field applicability, a ‘Local Stakeholder-Driven’ approach was employed. A structured analysis was conducted with a working group of 24 practitioners, comprising 12 climate adaptation officers, each representing a different local government, and 12 adaptation experts. The study evaluated: (i) the usability and reliability of inventory components, including technical definitions, working principles, effects, costs/duration, application cases, and references; (ii) the prioritization of 61 core technologies (focused on heatwaves and heavy rain) based on importance and utility; (iii) the identification of emerging technological demands for new climate risks; (iv) the inventory's utility across decision-making stages; and (v) specific requirements for enhancing decision-support functions.

The results reveal that 'application cases' and 'technological effects' are the most critical information elements for policy review. Specifically, from the analysis of the initial 61 core technologies, the study identified a demand for the granular categorization of heatwave-related technologies (e.g., tropical night response and vulnerable group protection) and proposed the necessity of integrating AI-based flood-related technologies (e.g., predictive inundation response). Furthermore, by accounting for diverse regional climate impacts, the study identified demands for 36 new adaptation technologies addressing risks such as drought, strong winds, landslides, and infectious diseases. These findings demonstrate that the inventory can enhance its effectiveness as a vital decision-support tool in the early stages of planning and policy development.

This study concludes that a technology inventory must evolve beyond a static list into a dynamic Decision Support System that integrates administrative workflows with practitioner experiences. Although rooted in the South Korean policy context, this framework provides a replicable methodological model for cities worldwide seeking to accelerate localized climate action through the systematization of adaptation technologies.

[Acknowledgement] This paper is based on the findings of the environmental technology development project for the new climate regime conducted by the Korea Environment Institute (2025-011(R)) and funded by the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (2022003570004).